Fall

We had a very busy and fun Fall!! We had a spider and a spiderman for Halloween. Fischer was planning on being a Ninja Turtle, but the day before Halloween he had a melt down and he decided he wanted to be spiderman because that was his favorite. So, we ran to Target and bought a spiderman costume. Then yesterday we had a meltdown that he really wanted to be the Hulk for Halloween. (he doesn't quite get that the next Halloween isn't for a long time) So when we were at Target today we luckily found a Hulk costume for $5. He wore it all day today and is now sleeping hugging it. He loves his costumes and would dress up everyday, all day, if I let him. Sophie loves spiders so she was a spider. Since Fischer was suppose to be a Ninja Turtle, the matching wasn't planned. Most people said, "Oh look, spiderman and spiderboy". Poor Soph. I tried to put a bow in her hair, but she wouldn't leave it in. One house in our neighborhood didn't have any candy so the kids got a banana, which Fischer chose to eat. One year in Maryland we got a banana while trick or treating, so it was really funny to me when the kids got one!





Trunk or treat at the church. Pretty fun!
Trick or treating at dad's work. The kids loved it. It was fun to be able to walk around the office.
Matt's desk. I told him he should put up some pictures or something... it looks like a boring tax accountant's desk, oh wait, he is a boring tax accountant!
Matt was sitting like this, I'm not sure why, but the kids decided to join in.
The kiddos at a pumpkin patch near our house.
It was dark in there and the kids loved it. Soph ran in there by herself, I couldn't believe it!
Soph loves birds and calls them all "quack quack". She has a little penguin that she stole from my brother John and just loves it. She carries it around and says, "Oh, baby quack, quack."
Soph wouldn't get near the rabbits, but Fish loved them! (Fischer got a haircut today. He is no longer a hippie.)
Our pumpkins. I did the skeleton, of course. I always try to do scary faces.
The kids "helping". And yes, it is warm enough to wear shorts and short sleeved shirts.
We went to Utah because Matt was sworn in as an attorney. So, Matt is an official certified attorney in the state of Utah. So anyone needing legal work done, just let Matt know. We spent a day at Wheeler farm.

Here we are at the swearing in. Congratulations Matt! We had fun in Utah, but it was a short trip. This whole work thing is really cramping our style. :-)

Visitors

My parents and John came to visit us a couple of weekends ago. We had so much fun!!! This is F being thrown in the pool.

We went up to San Francisco for the day. Here is my mom and S on the ferry to Alcatraz Island. I had never been to Alcatraz Island before and it was really cool... well more eerie, but very enjoyable.


Near the end of the tour both kids were out cold.
F wore a headset and listened to most of the recording. I was very surprised. I was hoping that he wasn't listening or understanding what was being said, but that night as I was putting him to bed he said, "Why do those men get guns and shoot the policeman?" I guess that probably wasn't the best idea to let him listen... but it did keep him quiet.
F got to meet R2D2 on the street. He moved and rolled around. F was very excited, but he asked where C3po was.
We ate at Alioto's. My dad has always eaten there since he was a kid. I had been there once before and it was a lot of fun to go back.
Enjoying our meal.
S loved my dad, as usual. Here she walked hand and hand with him for awhile.
We rode the cable cars. The kids loved it.

The kids loved having John at our house. This is how they spent most of the time while he was here, right next to him.
My mom brought F a nerf gun and S a stroller. S loved her stroller and still plays with it all day. But M took over the nerf gun. He shot John on his glasses from across the room.


Here are some videos of the kids in the pool. F is such a good little swimmer! S was cold by the time I got a video of her. She usually just jumps right in and swims all over the pool.

Summer and September Outings

Today we went to the San Jose children's museum. We had a great time. Sophie was very serious about making me a pizza.

Fischer was a great pizza maker. He made sure I ate every bite.
Of course the kids loved the sand. What kid doesn't?... besides Tillie. (but that's Jackie's fault :-))
Sophie wasn't too sure about the fire engine. I wonder if she thought it was going to start moving.

This is the kids new favorite game. They climb up the boxes at the end of our bed and superman jump onto the bed. They know Matt doesn't like them to jump on the bed so they wouldn't do it when I was in the room.
Fischer and Sophie fixed all of our tables and chairs. What great helpers!

The rest of the pictures are from this summer. This is how Matt proposed to me eight years ago. We went to the tree this summer. It's getting hard to read, but you can still tell what it says.
This is Fischer and Will swimming together. They had so much fun climbing out of the pool and jumping in... cannon ball style. They would have kept going all night.


This is what happens when Matt has been studying for the bar exam all summer. We were outside playing, not in the water, and Matt snuck up on us and jumped in the pool with his clothes on and the kids clothes on. He then tackled John.

This is a video from the museum. Please ignore the voice in the background.

Summer Adventures

Here are some pictures from the last part of our summer and some of our outings in California. Matt found out last week that he passed the bar exam, so to celebrate we went to Lake Tahoe for the weekends. Here are the kiddos buried in the sand.




When we got back from the grocery store one day I quickly put the things away in the fridge and freezer and then put Soph down for a nap. While I was away from the kitchen Fischer put the rest of the food away in the fridge and freezer. See how neatly and organized he put everything away. The drawers were full of food too.
Our first weekend here we went to Santa Cruz, a beach about an hour away.

They had rides along the boardwalk and of course Fischer chose to ride the haunted ride.
We went to a Pirate place in Orem. It was great because they kids could play around while we waited for our food.

Matt and I took the kids to Timpanogus Caves. Fischer loved it but Sophie didn't like all of the stopping and not being able to touch anything. It was fun.

The kids hanging out in my parents hot tub... well warm tub.
Fishing in the Uintas. Fischer was the only one who caught a fish.
We went camping!! John came with us. We had donuts and s'mores for breakfast!

Fischer, Matt and John slept on a tarp under the stars. (this picture is now at the beginning) Soph and I slept in a tent. I thought Fischer would climb in with us, but he stayed out there the whole night. In the morning we woke up to a hawk killing a rabbit nearby, but I would say that is better than waking up every 15 minutes in the middle of the night by the neighbors garage door opening and closing, which our bedroom is above. :-)


Soph & Fish rocking out in the car.

We Are Here

We are here!!! We have had a fun and busy summer. We are in Utah for a few months as we make our way to.... Do you know the way to San Jose?!?! We are still looking for a place to live but we will be in the San Jose area in September.

We have had a lot of fun this summer. We miss Virginia, but are having a fun time in Utah. This past weekend I went with Matt's family down to Monticello, Utah where Matt's parents are from and where his grandparents still live. We had a great time.








The 4th of July!!!

Fischer got stung twice on his chin. Luckily my dad was there to help him.
Aiden, Brooks and Cate came out for a couple of weeks. We had great time with them and still miss them!
Sophie loves playing with the skin in between knuckles.
Matt with Trevor, Todd and Elisha at graduation. The South Boundary clan.

In front of Matt's Law School.

It rained a ton during Matt's graduation. We are so proud of Matt! We just can't wait until the bar is over. Two more weeks!!

Mother's Day

I know this is a little late, but really, do you expect anything else from me? I still remember my mom coming home from parent teacher conference in High School with a surprised look on her face and saying, "All of your teachers said that you were organized, neat, and turned everything in on time. I was very surprised."

I haven't posted for awhile because Matt was working hard all day on the computer getting ready for finals, literally on the computer ALL DAY, poor guy. Then he finished and we toured around the area and then start packing up to move. This will be a hard and sad move for us. We have loved living here and have made some really good friends. But we're excited to start a new adventure.

Matt and the kids gave me a wonderful Mother's day. They made me feel loved and appreciated. Matt and I both have wonderful Mother's and grandmother's. We have definitely been blessed by them.

Here is a picture of the girls on my family. Cate is in JJ's belly. As I get older and the longer I have kids, I realize more and more what a wonderful mother my mom was and is. She is loving and taught us by example. My sisters are also great mothers. JJ and Jackie are great with their kids. It has been great for me to watch them and get parenting tips from them.


Here is my mom and Matt's mom with the kiddos.
Here are my Grandparents, my father's parents.
Here are my Grandparents, my mother's parents.
My mom with Soph and Cate.
Here are all of us kids in PC.
And here is a last picture of my mom with the kids minus John. Happy Mother's day to all mothers!!

Bay Weekend and Easter

Every year my college roommates all get together at Leila's parents bay house. We all got together a couple of weekends ago and it was so much fun. It is great to spend time with them and to all get caught up on each other's lives
Jess and the kiddos. Sophie calls her "Jet".





Me and Kristen with Sophie and Olivia. Olivia is Nina's daughter, but she looks like she could be Kristen's.
Here's the whole group. Five kids! They are all so good with our kids. I hardly watched my kids the whole time because someone was always playing with them.
Nina, I hope you don't mind that we let Sophie watch Olivia for a little while. Sophie is very mature and responsible for her age. It's so funny because Sophie loves babies. She even calls kids her own age babies.
Having fun with Mr. Potato Head!
The Saturday before Easter we went a big city of Williamsburg easter egg hunt. Sophie was so funny. She just kept picking up eggs and putting them in her basket. She picked up all of these eggs by herself.

Fischer was a champ too. He ran ahead of all of the other kids and got a ton of eggs also.
Now if the above sentence didn't seem odd to you, than you're like me. Before the race I told Fischer to run ahead of all of the other kids so that it wouldn't be crowded and he could get a lot of eggs. I told my mom this story and she started laughing at me. It didn't even occur to me that an egg hunt should be about having fun and not getting the most eggs. It didn't hit me until I was telling my mom the story that I was being competitive.

Where's Waldo!! Try to find me and Fish!

After the egg hunt, Laurie, Kevin, Vann, Travis, Sophia and Jess came over for an easter egg hunt in our backyard. I know, I know, I get my easter egg hunt craziness from my mom. And then on Easter we had another egg hunt. The kids had a lot of fun and it was fun for the adults to hang out too.